The varsity eight held fifth place throughout the first 1,000
meters and pulled a length ahead of sixth-place Georgetown shortly
after the race’s midway point. The Black and White then
turned its attention to fourth-place Bucknell. Radcliffe moved
through the Bison and held them off by 1.2 seconds in a time of
6:43.715. The Black and White also avenged its heat loss to
Georgetown by 5.6 seconds.

Stanford, meanwhile, won the national championship by upsetting
top-ranked, two-time defending champion Wisconsin. The Cardinal
beat the Badgers by 3.8 seconds, setting a new event record of
6:28.209 in the process. Only Wisconsin and Stanford had better
team performances than Radcliffe, as the Badgers captured two
silver medals and the Cardinal had one first-place and one
fifth-place finish.

“We held our ranking of fourth, and I think that was quite
an accomplishment after going through the repechage,” said
Radcliffe head coach Heather Cartwright. “Our heat was tough
yesterday morning, and having to row twice yesterday was a
challenge, but they came back and put a lot of heart into the race
and competed hard. It was a great learning experience. We have a
young crew, and they’re hungry for next year.”

The varsity four worked its way into fourth place as its grand
final wore on. Radcliffe was in sixth place early but passed and
pulled away from Georgetown in the second 500 meters and gained on
Stanford in the third. In the final 500, the Black and White caught
the Cardinal, edging Stanford at the line by less than three-tenths
of a second in 7:44.569.

“I thought the four was very strong today,”
Cartwright said. “Coming into the weekend they hadn’t
rowed as a four, so we didn’t really know their true speed. I
was pleased with their effort and the way they battled back all the
way to the end of the race.”